Grave Concerns Read Free

wrapped came loose, and the garment underneath was exposed. A knee-length dress, stained and shapeless, rode up over the body’s hips. The ripping sound had been that of decomposing skin and tissue separating at the sudden jolt. One leg dangled horribly, like that of a broken doll.
    ‘Christ!’ said the man who’d slipped, taking hold of the leg in gloved hands and trying to straighten it. ‘This is a right game.’
    ‘Better than those burnt kids,’ said his partner, holding tightly to the body’s shoulders.
    ‘You won’t forget this week in a hurry,’ Drew said sympathetically. ‘Why is it that everything happens at once?’
    The police officer in charge consulted Drew about removing the body to the Pathology Lab. ‘You’re an undertaker,’ he said dubiously. ‘Maybe you could do it. Though we usually call Plant’s for Coroner’s removals.’
    ‘Call them if you like,’ said Drew. ‘I’m not going to argue.’ Despite the all-concealing plastic in which it was now being thoroughly wrapped, the body was far from pleasant to handle. But after a second’s reflection, he knew he should do it. The opportunity was too good to miss. Besides the payment, there was the chance to demonstrate that Peaceful Repose was a serious business, more than capable of tackling anything that Plant’s could do. ‘No – we’ll do it,’ he said. ‘It’d be daft to call Plant’s.’
    ‘Maggs!’ he called. ‘Get the van, would you? You can drive it part of the way up here at least.’ Throwing him a cheerful grin, she trotted off. Having failed her driving test for the second time only that week, she wasn’t qualified to drive on the road. But Drew let her practise on the smoother sections of the field, knowing how much she enjoyed it.
    The police gave their usual warnings about nobody disturbing the scene, the need for more forensic examination, and official statements to be made by Jeffrey and the others. Drew was aware of a strange insouciance in himself andthe police officers, rare when dead bodies were involved. He supposed it was partly because the body was so very dead, it was no longer human in any real sense. Besides that, the numbness caused by the school bus crash was still very much in operation. The whole community was walking about in a state of shock from that catastrophe. A single mysterious old woman could hardly evoke much emotion after that. And yet, the reality appeared to be that this unknown woman was a murder victim, or if not that, then the subject of a criminal act, who had been secretly buried sometime during the past year or so. Sooner or later, Drew was sure, he would be forced to care very much who and how and why and when.
    Jeffrey, however, was anxious to have his role recognised. He began to prattle nervously, as the whole group moved awkwardly down the field towards the van. ‘Her flesh is all black,’ he remembered. ‘Like a sheep been dead in a ditch for half a year. And the bone sticking out, funny whitey-grey colour. Don’t smell much, though. Not as bad as a sheep. No maggots, see. Flies can’t get down that deep. Those dentures, though, grinning at nothing – gave me a shock, they did. All pink – not natural.’
    ‘OK,’ Drew tried to interrupt him. ‘I think we’ve got the picture.’
    ‘Must’ve been an old lady – white hair andfalse teeth.’ Jeffrey cocked his head at the police, who were preparing to depart. ‘Have to be a postmortem now, eh?’
    ‘That’s right, sir,’ said an officer flatly. ‘And an inquest,’ he added.
    Drew rubbed two fingers hard across his brow, aware of a subtle pain developing. ‘What a business,’ he said.
    ‘Mmm,’ agreed the policeman. ‘Can’t recall anyone reporting their old Mum missing – nothing nice and easy like that.’ He adopted a gloomy expression. ‘I hate these “identity unknown” cases. She’s probably some Wino Winnie, got herself bumped off in an argument over a bottle of meths.’
    Now Drew had